


Green with Envy

by Countingcrows



Series: Agape [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Swearing, based off a Tumblr message I sent to someone, jealous lance is my life sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 16:50:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11787351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Countingcrows/pseuds/Countingcrows
Summary: Voltron hear a distress signal on a planet invaded by Galra. After helping out they decide to stay and help rebuild the destroyed village that was left over from the battle. While there, an alien boy takes a liking to Pidge and for some reason Lance is jealous. He tries to justify his feelings by saying he only views Pidge as a sister, but the rest of the Voltron team arent having it. Maybe they know something he doesn't.





	Green with Envy

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all this is my first plance fic, based off a message o sent someone on tumblr. I've been thinking of jealous!lance a lot recently since we have a lot of evidence of jealous Pidge, so I decided to take my crack at it. I might turn this into a series of connecting one shots based on the two of them, if this is liked enough!

Lance was bored.

 

The team had flown to a planet called Bagherra, a small desert-like planet in the western corner of the galaxy due to a distress signal. Apparently the Galra were trying to use this planet as a base of operations, and Voltron was called to do what they do best: kick some ass. It hadn't taken them long to run the Galra off the planet, but they were forced to stay behind to help the terrified citizens re-acclimate to peace. Most of their resources had been stolen, and their means of electricity had almost been completely wiped out during the fight. Thanks to Pidge and Hunk, however, they were well on their way of developing a new form of tech to help get everyone back on their feet again.

 

However, that left Lance without anything interesting or necessary to do. He had wandered around the city, the structured buildings made of a type of stone that was only found on this planet that was as dull and boring as the inhabitants. He had tried talking to some of the locals, and in fact some of the female aliens were even kind of cute, but the more they talked and sang his praises he realized there really wasn't anything else that they could talk about. He had tried asking them questions and getting to know them, but they had a home to rebuild and didn't have time to waste on him.

 

So he continued to explore. He wandered passed Allura who was dealing with obviously very Important diplomatic matters with the village chief, Coran at her side making animated and wild gestures with his arms as he spoke. He passed Keith helping Shiro carry heavy stone bricks to construction sites where new homes were to be built. And lastly, he wandered up to Hunk and Pidge, who were bickering over a certain type of wire used to rework the electricity.

 

“---that's not going to last, you need to use this cable to reroute and then patch it up at the base!” Lance caught Pidge argue, holding up a thick cable and waving it in Hunks face with an annoyed expression on her face.

 

“Sorry, Pidge, but that's only a minimal source of power. That material can't hold up to the heat of the planet. Use this one instead,” Hunk pressed a thinner cable into a Bagherrans hands, and ushered them towards an opening in the ground where several other villagers were using their nimble fingers to weave the electrical wires and rework the system that had been lost during the fight.

 

Lance watched in confusion (or, maybe blissful ignorance) as Pidge sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

 

He had noticed lately that she had become increasingly more frustrated with the smallest things, often biting off the head of anyone she had gotten into an argument with faster than she usually did. He knew it had something (or maybe everything) to do with the fact that she still hadn't found her family yet. She had leads on her brother's whereabouts, but they had mostly lead to dead ends. It was understandable why she was so upset, if anyone he could understand the want to be reunited with one's family again.

 

“You okay, Pidge?” He asked quietly, walking up to stand next to her.

 

“Fine,” she said shortly, removing the fingers from her nose and glancing down at the cable in her hand with a pinched expression.

 

He looked at her then, taking in the bags under her eyes and the shallowness of her cheeks. She was never one to have a proper sleep schedule, but looking at her then he realized she may have been forgoing sleep altogether to continue the search for her brother. She had been taking her lion out almost every week, often going missing for days at a time and coming up empty handed. Any time he saw her return her eyes looked a little more faraway, and there was always a little less life in them.

 

“Maybe you should go take a nap,” he tried suggesting, watching her with concern. “I'm sure we'll be here for at least a little while longer.”

 

“I can't rest, these people need my help,” she argued, shaking her head. Her hair had grown out just a bit longer recently, instead of poking straight out the ends started to point downwards as her hair started to grow towards the base of her neck. She looked just a tad more feminine with her hair longer, and it amazed him to think he was ever fooled by her pretending to be a boy at one point. “The faster we’re done here, the faster we can continue doing more important things.”

 

“I think we're already doing important things,” he shrugged, grinning down at her faintly. “Saving people is important, Pidge.”

 

“There are more people who need saving, Lance,” she didn't look at him when she said it, but he caught the faraway look in her eyes.

 

“Miss Pidge!” Before Lance could speak, he was interrupted by a Bagherran boy, running over and waving at Pidge animatedly. “Miss Pidge, I found a storage house full of some of our tech. Most of it doesn't work to its full capacity, but would you mind coming with me to take a look at it? Maybe you'll find something useful.”

 

Pidge’s eyes lit up then, growing wide and sparkling with excitement at the prospect of getting to see new alien tech that could teach her more about the universe. Usually, Lance enjoyed seeing Pidge light up like that, often finding it humorous how quickly she was able to bounce back and have her emotions do a complete 180 whenever something nerdy was mentioned. However, there was a nagging feeling just then, a deep clawing at the very bottom of his stomach that was sending waves of anxiety crashing through his body as he glanced between Pidge and the Bagherra boy talk excitedly amongst themselves.

 

He looked at the Bagherra boy, glancing at him up and down and taking in his lithe form and green skin. Lance wasn't sure how aliens judged age, but the boy looked younger than him, but older than Pidge. If he had to guess in terms of earth years, he would put him around 16. He looked more humanoid than most aliens they had come across, with a youthful face and matted, sandy brown hair that reminded Lance of the calm desert that stretched out around the village. The boy was smiling sheepishly down at Pidge, reaching one hand up to clamp at the back of his neck while he scuffed a foot at the ground, laughing at something Pidge had said.

 

_Oh_.

 

Lance was a boy. A very flirtatious, some would even go so far as to say _obnoxious_ boy, but a boy nonetheless. And he knew that look. That look that that Bagherran boy was giving Pidge was one that silently screamed ‘ _oh gosh she's cute_ ’, as it was the same look Lance had given plenty of pretty girls.

 

The anxiety swelling in his stomach was starting to rise, like a crescendo of a song in an orchestra, ringing higher and higher inside of him. He realized then that he didn't like that look. His ears felt grating any time the two of them laughed at something the other said, and the swell inside him got more ferocious when he realized that Pidge was enjoying herself around this boy.

 

Something inside of him told him to put a stop to this. Whatever was happening between them, it needed to end. It was weird! Pidge never laughed like that. Or, at least she had never laughed like that at him.

 

“Where are you going?” Lance blurted the words, almost accusatorily when the pair started to walk off together.

 

“We’re going to go look at the tech Cadren found,” Pidge glanced back at him, blinking wide with confusion. Her brow furrowed, and she took a step closer to Lance with a look of worry on her face. “Are you okay? You look sick.”

 

Cadren. What kind of name was _Cadren_?

 

“I'm fine,” Lance shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. Really, it was to hide the fact that his hands had started to sweat, but he chalked it up to the heat radiating off of the planet. He had nothing to be nervous about, right? “Are you sure you should be wandering off alone like that?”

 

“I'm not alone, Cadren is with me,” Pidge chucked a thumb over her shoulder, pointing at Cadren, who was watching her expectantly. “There are no more Galra here, Lance, you don't need to worry about me.”

 

It wasn't the Galra he was worried about.

 

“I know but you can never be too careful,” he shrugged, managing a quick glare at Cadren over Pidges head. He pulled his eyes away to look down at her again, realizing just how _small_ she was. More than a head tinier than him, with a frame as tiny and delicate as a dancers. Or even a birds, which was fitting given her nickname. The idea of her going off alone somewhere and potentially getting hurt made him feel sick. “Do you want me to come with you?”

 

Her eyebrow raised higher again, and she dropped her hip, placing a hand over it. “You don't care about alien tech, you never have. You'll just be bored. Why don't you go see if Keith or Shiro need any help?”

 

“You could teach me about it,” he countered, shrugging again and suddenly feeling antsy. Why was he being so pushy? He was never pushy with Pidge. “I mean...if you wanted to.”

 

Pidge hesitated, glancing between him and Cadren, before resting a very confused gaze on Lance. “I usually wouldn't mind but are you _sure_ you're feeling okay? You're acting weird.”

 

“I'm fine,” he shook his head, then sighed, deciding to give up. He realized she didn't want him there, he could tell by her posture. She was raring to go and he was holding her back. He knew he wouldn't be able to understand anything she said, even if she did speak in a way that was easy for him. He just wasn't passionate about that stuff, not like she was. “Actually, I think you're right. I'm going to go see if our fearless leader needs any help. Shout if you need me, yeah?”

 

“Yeah,” Pidge nodded, her voice quieter than usual. She paused for a second longer, her eyes searching the plains of his face for answers to questions unasked, before giving up and turning back to Cadren and walking off with him.

 

He watched them go, a small voice at the back of his mind telling them to chase after them anyway, even if it meant embarrassing himself. He shook it off, turning away with legs that felt heavy with lead, and wandered off to find Keith and Shiro.

* * *

 

  
He found them working on rebuilding the broken half of a house towards the eastern part of the village, several Bagherrans around them milling about with tools and wheelbarrows filled with bricks. Keith was laying down some mortar while Shiro placed thick heavy bricks along the wall, building up the structure. They both looked tired and sweaty, the sun bearing down on them unwaveringly, no shade to provide any relief from the heat.

 

“Need any help?” Lance asked when he had walked up, glancing about with a pout on his face.

 

“If you wouldn't mind,” Shiro smiled at him, leaning up to wipe sweat from his brow. “You can fill another wheelbarrow with bricks and wheel it over here so I can lay them down.”

 

“Sure,” Lance said, setting off to grab a nearby empty wheelbarrow and got to work.

 

He filled it sluggishly, taking longer than necessary to fill the barrow and wheel it back over. His legs felt heavy as he moved them, as if all his strength had been sapped and each step took up more energy than he had. Keith and Shiro exchanged concerned glances when he had walked back over to them, both of them turning to watch him hesitantly.

 

“Lance…,” Shiro began, his voice gentle. “Are you alright? Is the heat getting to you? You look...sick.”

 

“He means you look like shit,” Keith arched a brow at Lance, crossing his arms over his chest. “What happened?”

 

“First of all, I put a lot of effort into _this_ ,” Lance gestured down at his body, suddenly offended. “So that I never look like shit, so fuck you. Second of all, nothing is wrong I just…” he trailed off, feeling defeated once more and deciding to avoid their prying gazes by looking off to the side.

 

“You just...what? Did you get rejected again?” Shiro asked, suddenly looking more relieved, as if that type of behaviour was supposed to be expected.

 

“No,” Lance said sharply, sending Shiro a quick glare. “It's just that...there's this Bagherran kid named _Cadren_ ,” he spat the name bitterly, like it gave his mouth a bad taste. “He's been hanging around Pidge and I can tell he has ulterior motives.”

 

“ _Oh_ ,” Keith and Shiro said the word in unison, glancing at each other and trying to bite back knowing smiles.

 

“And that... _bothers_ you?” Shiro pressed, amusement dancing in his eyes.

 

“I mean---yeah!” Lance threw his hands up, choosing to glare at the sky instead of the ground. “She's...she's like my little sister, I guess!”

 

“You _guess_?” Keith echoed, stifling a snort.

 

“Well...I guess I never thought of her that way usually but someone has to look out for her, since her family isn't here!” Lance looked at them then, dropping his arms down to his sides. “I know a boy trying to hit on someone when I see it and I _definitely_ saw it in the way he was looking at her. It was gross.”

 

“Why does it matter so much?” Keith asked, suddenly looking bored. “I mean--you didn't honestly think something like that wasn't going to ever happen, did you? Just because none of us look at her that way doesn't mean _someone_ won't.”

 

Lance felt the world stop.

 

Not literally, of course, but everything slowed down for an instant in his brain. Truth be told, he had never thought of something like that happening. Maybe that was why it was such a big shock to him. Pidge had always just been that: Pidge Gunderson, tech junkie and tom boy who, to Lance, was the smartest person in the galaxy. To someone like Cadren, who could understand all the science mumbo-jumbo she said, Pidge was on equal footing with him. And not only that, she was _pretty_.

 

Lance had never thought of her that way. Pretty. She wasn't obviously pretty, like Allura who had grown into her tall figure and thin, attractive face. Pidge was pretty in a wild way. An unkempt way, that was as free spirited as her personality. She was still pretty young, and her cheeks were still a little round but somewhere deep down Lance knew she would grow into all of that. It wasn't like he had ignored the fact that she was attractive, he just had been blind to it. He had noticed things about her, like the few inches she had grown and her hair getting longer, and even the way her hips swished just a little when she walked. They were all pieces of a puzzle he hadn't quite put together in his brain, or at least, he was too dense to.

 

“I guess...it doesn't matter that he thinks she's pretty,” Lance said quietly, staring down at the ground, searching it for answers to questions he didn't have.

 

He knew that it _shouldn't_ matter that Cadren thought she was pretty, but he was lying when he said it doesn't matter. It did matter, for whatever reason his brain couldn't quite justify quite yet. It mattered and it bothered him.

 

“It's okay to be jealous, Lance,” Shiro said gently, reaching out to place a comforting hand on Lance's shoulder.

 

Lance glanced up at him then, eyes widening. “I'm not _jealous_!” He said indignantly, brushing off Shiro’s arm and glancing between Shiro and Keith with a horrified expression. “I just told you I think of her like a little sister, how could I be jealous?”

 

Keith rolled his eyes, breathing out in heavy exasperation from his nose. “Man, and I thought _I_ was dense.”

 

“You're both nuts if you think that's what it is,” Lance shook his head adamantly, taking several stumbling steps backwards. “Absolutely nuts. I'm out of here.”

 

He wandered off then, the swell of anxiety returning to his stomach and making him feel sicker. He wasn't jealous--that was impossible. He would have to be attracted to Pidge to be jealous of her, and the thought had never crossed his mind.

 

She was like his partner in crime. He was close with Hunk, and he knew the two of them were practically best friends, but any time he needed someone to go and cause trouble with, he had turned to Pidge. She was so smart he wouldn't be shocked to know that she knew every secret of the universe hidden behind those bright, beautiful brown eyes of hers---- _what was he thinking?_

 

He shook his head again, stumbling into the side of a building before wandering off again with no general sense of direction.

* * *

 

  
He found Allura and Coran by the parked shipped, conversing over something while they looked at a projected screen above Coran’s wrist computer. He walked up to them, poking his head between their shoulders and glancing at the screen. It was a projection of blueprints from the castle, something to do with the core in the Altean language he couldn't read.

 

“Whatcha doin’?” He asked, desperate for anything to get his mind off of the nonsense Keith and Shiro had said.

 

“Coran and I are talking about ways to improve the core of the ship without needing to take away power from the shield,” Allura replied, stepping away to allow him room into their circle. “What are you doing?”

 

“Nothing, just wandering around. Do you need help with anything? I'm pretty bored,” desperate, even, but he wasn't about to tell her that.

 

“I think we're okay,” Allura glanced at Coran, then back at Lance. “Why don't you see how the rest of the team is doing. I think Keith and Shiro could use an extra hand doing some rebuilding.”

 

“I just came from there. They're fine on their own,” Lance lied, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. It bothered him more knowing that they had rattled him so badly, as opposed to what they had said.

 

“Well, if you see Hunk or Pidge you could tell them to come see me in the castle,” Coran said, clapping a hand on Lance's shoulder before wandering off into the castle without another word.

 

At the mention of Pidge’s name, Lance hummed grumpily, his pleasant facade slipping for just an instant as his sour mood returned. He tried to compose himself quickly, but Allura had caught him. She stared at him for a moment, arching a brow and taking in his body language. He hated when she did that, it felt like she was reading him like an open book. It was worse knowing she was good at it, too.

 

“Something happen?” Allura asked innocently, batting her eyelashes at him. “Did you and Pidge get into another fight? You don't look too happy.”

 

“No, we didn't fight,” he kicked a rock, glaring at it as it flew off into the distance. “She's hanging out with some kid named _Cadren_ and is too busy for me.”

“And that...bothers you?” Allura pried, blinking in surprise.

 

“No,” he shook his head. “Hey you're a girl right? Maybe you can give me some advice.”

 

“ _You_ want girl advice?” Allura gawked at him before reaching up and placing a hand over his forehead. “Do you have a temperature? Are you feeling alright?”

 

“I'm fine!” He stepped away from her hand, reaching up to adjust his bangs so they weren't out of place. “It's just...I don't like that kid hanging around her. He seems like bad news. I don't know how to tell her that because...well, you know Pidge! She'll bite my head off!”

 

Allura’s attention diverted over her shoulder, and suddenly her blue eyes widened just a fraction. He stared at her, confused, before turning to look over his shoulder. He caught sight of Pidge and Cadren walking towards the town together, shoulders brushing and laughing amongst themselves.

 

“He doesn't _look_ like bad news, as you say,” Allura said.

 

Lance watched them with the sickness churning his stomach again. His hands started to sweat in his gloves, and even his neck started to get too hot. His suit felt too constricting, and desperately he wished he could dunk his head under some cold water.

 

“I don't like him,” Lance muttered under his breath, and promptly swivelled on his heel and marched off without another word. Allura called after him but he ignored her, walking as fast and as far as his legs would take him, leaving all thoughts of Pidge behind.

* * *

 

  
“Sounds like you're jealous, dude.”

 

Lance had found himself in front of Hunk before he had come back to his senses. His friend was in a manhole, connecting wires and using a blowtorch on something Lance didn't know the name of. Lance had laid down on the ground by the entrance of the hole, an arm thrown dramatically over his face to block out the sun while he had explained the details of what had happened over the past hour or so. Hunk had listened patiently, before finally saying possibly the worst thing Lance had ever heard come out of his mouth.

 

“I'm _not_ jealous!” Lance snapped, kicking his feet in the air childishly. “Pidge is like...like a little sister!”

 

“Well, if you're so insistent on _that_ ,” Hunk said, sounding as if he didn't believe him but deciding not to press to far into that particularly sensitive subject. “Then maybe it's just the attention thing. Some guy is interested in Pidge, but there aren't any girls flocking to you. Maybe you're just jealous of that?”

 

“Girls flock to me!” Lance said defensively, feeling his chest hurt. “They totally flock.”

 

“Oh yeah? Where are they now?” Hunk snorted.

 

“Have you seen this place? It's a mess. They’re all busy rebuilding, and can you blame them? Jeez, Hunk, have a heart.”

 

“Right, _I'm_ the problem,” Hunk rolled his eyes, sighing. “Listen, man, we’re almost done here. When we leave, we're not coming back, so you never have to see that Cadren guy again. I mean, it may suck for Pidge if she ends up liking him, but I guess this is about you for right now.”

 

Lance hummed thoughtfully, a sudden sense of guilt hitting him at that moment. He hadn't been thinking of what Pidge wanted, just the fact that he thought he knew what was best for her. Obviously he didn't, seeing how smart and capable she was. Was it so wrong for him to feel like he wanted her to need him, at least just a little bit? He relied on her more than anyone; was it so much to ask for that she rely on him, too?

 

He heard giggling come from his right, and he shifted his arm away from his eyes and glanced out into the peripheral of his vision. He took note of Pidge and Cadren sitting next to each other atop a stack of bricks, bumping their shoulders together and laughing. Lance wasn't sure he had ever heard a Pidge laugh like that; it was silvery and tinkling and altogether too _girly_ to come from the wild and untamed Pidge that he knew. When she laughed like that, he saw Katie Holt, young girl on the verge of womanhood. When she laughed around _him_ she was Pidge Gunderson, tomboy extraordinaire.

 

His heart squeezed again, a pain gripping at his chest like his ribcage was closing in on itself. It was hard to breathe for some reason, the air feeling trapped in his lungs and suffocating him in such an intense way it was worse than drowning. He wasn't sure he had ever experienced something like this before. Swept up in such a severe feeling he couldn't tell which way was up anymore.

 

A thought struck him then: how desperate he was to have Pidge need him, the feeling was like when he didn't know his place in Voltron. When he was constantly second guessing himself, unsure and unconfident in his abilities. He had felt lost for a long time, and even to a certain extent he still did. His friends had pulled him out of that dangerous mindset, reassuring him of his place on the team and confirming that he was needed. Yet when it came to this moment, he was unsure of himself again. Some random alien kid was looking at her like she was the light at the end of the tunnel, and he had made her laugh and joke like no one he had ever seen before. Like something he had never been capable of.

 

He realized then how unnecessary he had been acting. He didn't like to admit it, but maybe he was jealous. He hadn't needed to be then, because in the grand scheme of things it didn't really matter. So what if that Cadren kid could make Pidge laugh? That didn't mean she didn't need him. In fact, she _shouldn't_ need him. Pidge shouldn't, and didn't, need anyone. She was strong, capable and unbelievably intelligent and she didn't _need_ anyone looking out for her in such an unpleasant way.

 

He sat up properly then, running a hand through his short brown hair and taking a deep breath. In and out. He did that for several moments until the swirling, angry sea of emotions in his stomach settled down to gentle waves. He would not let this jealousy consume him. He wasn't like that.

 

Hunk stopped what he was doing to look over Lance, a concerned look on his face. “You okay, buddy?”

 

“Yeah,” Lance nodded, “I'm fine.”

 

For the first time that day, he wasn't lying.

* * *

 

  
Hours passed, and Lance had decided to use his time to be more productive. He had gotten into his lion and moved rubble away from the building grounds. He then helped lift new bricks and other materials around the expanse of the village to help the locals. When that was done, he rejoined Shiro and Keith once more and helped them properly. They teased him for a bit, but he shrugged off their ribbing and pushed all the thoughts of Pidge to the back of his mind.

 

It worked, for the most part.

 

When the sun started to set Allura and Coran called everyone back to the castle. Lance returned his lion to the hanger, and waited at the entrance to the castle with the Alteans for the rest of the crew to gather.

 

Keith and Shiro appeared first, with Hunk following shortly after. Pidge joined them last, Cadren walking beside her, a nervous look on his face. They turned to each other to say goodbye, and Lance thought he caught Cadren saying something along the lines of “I'll never forget you” or something equally dramatic.

 

Everyone watched in surprise as Cadren leaned forward and kissed Pidge on the cheek, pulling back and smiling warmly at her.

 

If a person could self-combust, Lance was positive Pidge had done it. Like everyone else on the team, her mouth had dropped open in slack. She stared unseeingly at him with wide eyes, and her whole body went rigid.

 

Before he could stop himself, Lance marched forward and grabbed Pidge by the arm and dragged her back into the castle, saying a quick goodbye to the Bagherran boy and disappearing.

 

  
“What the hell was that?” He rounded on Pidge once he had dragged her deep into the castle, far away from any prying ears he was positive were listening.

 

“I….uh…” Pidge fumbled for her words, cheeks dusting with red. “I don't know.”

 

“Are you two, like, dating now? Or something?” She flinched at the annoyance in his voice, and he dropped her arm, suddenly feeling ashamed of himself. “Sorry,” he said softly, training his eyes on the ground. “That's not my business.”

 

“No, it's not,” Pidge snapped, rubbing the spot on her arm where he had dragged her. “Why do you care?”

 

“I'm just trying to look out for you,” he reached up to rub the back of his neck, finding his skin hot to the touch.

 

“I'm not your kid sister,” Pidge shook her head, sounding increasingly annoyed. “You don't need to act like that. I have a brother, and he's not you.”

 

“I know,” Lance dropped his hands back down to his side, letting his shoulders sag. “Trust me, I _know_. I just…I don't know, I worry about you.”

 

“Well, we _are_ teammates,” Pidge’s voice softened, and she looked up at him through her lashes. He had never noticed how thick they were, framing her eyes and making them look bigger and rounder. They were ultimately feminine, soft and gentle looking, and again he was surprised that he had fallen for her lie. “I guess in the spirit of looking out for each other, I have a present for you.”

 

She reached into a back pocket, retrieving a small black compact device that looked akin to an old cellphone from earth. He took it from her and flipped it open, staring at the dark flat surface that was stretched out in his palm. He raised an eyebrow at her in confusion.

 

“Thanks Pidge, I've always wanted… a box.”

 

“No, dummy,” she pressed a button and the screen flashed on, suddenly revealing a radar with several dots reading on the screen. “It's a radar that tracks heat signals. I figured the next time we head into a Galra base you can have a bit of an advantage. Makes more sense that the sharpshooter know where the enemies are, right?”

 

He stared at her then, mouth slightly agape and blue eyes wide. He wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. He had spent all day worrying about her; _jealous_ of Cadren and yet here she was: giving him a handmade present personalized to him. It spoke volumes to him, the tiny radar, and it filled him with shame.

 

“Thank you…” he breathed the words out, glancing between her and the radar in his hand. The simple thank you wasn't enough to really convey everything he was feeling, but somewhere the back of his mind was telling him somehow, Pidge still understood.

 

“No problem,” she shrugged, grinning up at him sheepishly. “It took all day to make, so don't break it, alright?”

 

He couldn't stop himself then. He reached out and pulled her tiny frame towards him, burying her in a deep hug. His frame was large enough where he could probably curl in on her twice and he'd still be larger than her. She really was tiny, just like a bird, and just as free and independent as one as well.

 

She was caught by surprise when he hugged her, laughing at him and trying to push him off at first. She eventually gave in, reaching up and winding her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. They held onto each other for a moment, probably longer than socially acceptable for just a simple hug between friends, but he didn't care. He didn't want to let her go, feeling like all the warmth in the world would disappear the moment she stepped away.

 

“Just...be careful, out there,” Pidge murmured against him, arms flexing tightly against his back. “I worry about you.”

He laughed then, short and breathless and all the weight in his chest disappeared in an instant. “I worry about you too, Pidge.”

 

“I know,” she said, finally releasing him and stepping back. “Well, I think I've had enough of this emotional business. Wanna grab some dinner?”

 

“Yes,” he nodded, stepping beside her and slinging an arm around her shoulders.

 

As confusing as his feelings had been that day, he was reminded of a single constant: that he and Pidge would never stop caring about each other in their weird, complicated way. They were friends, partners and their trust in each other was unbreakable. It didn't matter what aliens came or went in their lives, because no matter what they had each other, and for the moment that was all that mattered.

 

However, he couldn't lie and say he didn't spend more time than necessary thinking about her before he went to bed that night, whatever that meant.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Well, there it is! Don't hesitate to write a comment telling me what you liked (or didn't like) about this fic! If I continue this in a series, the two of these crazy kids will start to sort out their confusing feelings in a sweet, sweet slow burn. Let me know if you're interested ! Later gators :)


End file.
